Plants and Water - Adapting to dry environments
Adapting to dry environments
In places where water is a rare resource, such as deserts, plants have had to adapt to survive in the dry, hot environment. These plants usually have special methods of storing and conserving water. The desert cacti, for example, have few or no leaves, which reduces transpiration. Some desert plants have deep roots to pull up water deep in the sand. Other plants have shallow roots that
thread out extensively so they can quickly suck up water close to the surface.
Desert plants can store water in their stems, leaves, or thick roots. For example, the old man cactus has a layer of hair that helps it to store water. This hair can also keep it from losing water by lessening the drying effects of the wind.
Some desert plants are dormantA state of inactivity in an organism., not active, during dry periods, and then...
[The entire page is 267 words long]
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